The Pigtailed Girl
by Wet-Toilet-Roll
Summary: A collection of shipping one-shots featuring the heroine from SoulSilver!


A/N: Hey there! 8D This is my first pokemon shipping fic, so please be kind. D; So this is how it will work-I'll be writing one shots; most probably ones that are over 1000 words of shipping pairs (or trios? IDEK) that consist of Kotone/Lyra/Silver and someone else. You'll see pairs like Soulsilver Shipping, Heartsoul Shipping, Folklore Shipping, Keeper Shipping, etc. Feel free to submit your own requests, provided that you include Kotone in your request! C: This IS dedicated to her character, after all. 8^Y Leave a review on your way out, if you'd be so kind to! C: So, without further ado, this is the first one! It's dedicated to Heartsoul Shipping! (Hibiki/Kotone)

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><p><em>He was 8 years old; too young to know what falling in love feels like, too young to stop playing tag with his best friend, and too young to fall in love.<em>

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><p>"Give it up, Kotone, you've always been terrible at card games and you know it!" Hibiki laughed, his golden eyes twinkling with mirth. The girl named Kotone eyed the colourful cards that were laid sparsely on the varnished wooden floor with distaste. She threw her handful of cards on the floor and shook her head miserably, her short brown hair swaying stiffly.<p>

"It's not fair," Kotone huffed, puffing her soft cheeks out. She pouted, her hazel eyes glaring at Hibiki as she added, "You know that I never was any good with these games, yet you still insist we play every time!"

Her indignation caused Hibiki to laugh more than ever. He set the cards in his hand down and stood up, a silly grin plastered on his face. "Well, then," He extended his hand out to her. "How about we go out to the fields to play?"

Kotone beamed, her cheeks flushed with happiness. "Now you're talking! Let's go peek in through the window of the lab again!"

The duo rushed out of the room, chattering loudly and making plans as they bounded down the stairs. They had a wonderful time that afternoon.

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><p><em>He was 13 years old; too young to love someone with all of his heart, too young to stop playing w<em>_ith airplane models, and too young to think about love._

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><p>Kotone's mother raised her eyebrows at the new hat adorning the head of her child. "Where'd you get that hat? It looks pretty cool," She whistled as she poured ice cold juice into a cup.<p>

"Hibiki's dad bought it for me! He got one for Hibiki too!" Kotone replied; a bright smile lighting up her features. She raised her left hand to her shoulder length hair, twirling it. "How do I look?"

"So cool," Her mother replied with a smile, raising the rim of the glass to her lips. "Have you shown Hibiki how you look in that hat?"

"No, I rushed back home once I got it!" She spun around, staring at her reflection in the full length mirror beside the kitchen counter. She quickly added, "After thanking Uncle, of course! You're sure I look okay? I don't look like a dork or anything?"

Her mother shook her head, smiling reassuringly. "You look _adorable_. Now go on and show him your new hat!"

Kotone ran the short distance that separated her house from Hibiki's. Her white summer dress billowed as her red shoes hit the ground repeatedly, kicking up grass blades. She rang the doorbell, checking her reflection in the window's mirror finish. A portly woman answered the door, a jubilant expression appearing when she caught sight of the young girl. "Hibiki went upstairs when you left in a hurry. He wanted to show you his new Pokémon that his father bought for him, but you took off before he could even do so!"

Kotone's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She dazed out for a second before blinking rapidly. She apologised, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I didn't mean to leave like that; I wanted to show my mother the hat Uncle had bought for me! Sorry about that,"

The woman just smiled in reply and showed the girl in. She clutched onto her hat nervously and went up the stairs, her heart hammering against her chest. Hibiki's father bought him a new Pokémon? What type is it? Is it a big Pokémon? How does it look like? Thousands of questions flooded her mind, but she willed herself to remain calm lest Hibiki thinks she was acting out of character. She knocked gently and entered the room.

"Hibiki..?" Kotone called softly, poking her head into the room.

"Since when did you knock?" A loud and cheerful voice resounded from behind the door, and a hand pulled her in. She stumbled in, her slightly ill-fitting hat almost falling off her head. A blue, rotund Pokémon with a white belly and a tail that started out with as thin and black and ending with a round, blue end the same colour as its body stood on the rug in the middle of the room. Its nose twitched at her unfamiliar scent.

"So, what do you think of my Marill? My dad bought it for me from Goldenrod City. They really do have everything there!" He raised his hands excitedly. Kotone nodded, star struck by the deep blue colour of the Marill. Apart from the occasional Sentret, Pidgey and other common Pokémon that jumped out of the tall grass at the edge of the town, she has never laid eyes on another, not to mention one that can't be caught as easily.

"It's…awesome..!" Kotone blurted out, as excitement started taking over her. She grabbed Hibiki's hands and danced around, cheering. "Oh my goodness, Hibiki, you're going to look so cool with it following it you around!"

"It's a male, actually," Hibiki interjected, as he jumped around, holding onto the hands of his best friend. "I'm going to bring him out for our daily visits to the field nearby, if you're okay with it!"

"Of course I'm okay with it, silly!" Kotone crushed him in a hug, her face flushed with anticipation. "Can you imagine the kind of moves it'll be able to do? Ah, I can't wait till tomorrow! You're the best, Hibiki!"

A light pink fluttered across Hibiki's cheeks, and he started feeling immensely proud of himself. They started playing with and petting the new Pokémon, cheering when it burped a bubble and cooing at the moist sensation of its skin. Both Hibiki and Kotone never got to tell each other how much they liked each other's hats that day.

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><p><em>He was 15; too young to understand his unfamiliar torrent of feelings welling up in him when he catches sight of her, too young to dare to venture out on a life-changing adventure, too young to admit that he was head over heels in love with her.<em>

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><p>Hibiki glanced at the low and curled pigtails that his best friend was sporting under her enormous hat that was adorned with the ribbon that she loved so much. He also scrutinised her new outfit; short blue overalls that barely showed off any curves that she may have developed, a short red top that hung slightly off her skinny shoulders, and white stockings that covered her long, lean legs. She looked, in his opinion, absolutely adorable. It was such a fresh look, and he wished that she had adopted this style ages ago, so that she would have grown into the outfit. It wasn't to say that he didn't miss her donning those pristine summer dresses, though.<p>

"How do I look?" She twirled, as she tried smiling like the supermodels she saw on an advertisement the other day.

He immediately wished that she was just smile like she always did, and not try to be some stranger he did not know. He was, however, tongue-tied.

"…good," The single word burst out from his lips before he could process the thought, and as it left his lips, he started berating himself viciously in his mind.

"…oh…thanks…" Kotone trailed off, her disappointment visibly showing. It disappeared quickly, though, and a grin replaced it. "Anyways, I'm heading off to the lab now! Wish me luck for that Pokémon starter thing!" She gave him a quick, awkward hug, and just as he raised his hand to hold her close, she stepped back and gave him a last look. "You're looking sportier as ever with your new jacket and pants! And your hair has gotten longer than ever, huh? Look at your fringe, it's about to cover your right eye!" She reached out and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He swallowed hard, feeling a warm feeling creep up his neck. She smiled, oblivious to his sudden discomfort. "It's time for a haircut, don't you think?"

Hibiki eyed his pants that showed off his wiry legs. He brushed his hair out of his sight for good measure. "Hey, at least I have a fringe!" He retorted back cheekily. She punched his shoulder playfully, and turned to leave. "I'll see you in a few, and tell you what all the business with the lab is about!"

He nodded, a crooked smile forced onto his visage as he watched her leave his house and enter the Pokémon lab that his town was famous for. The same pained smile appeared as she burst into his room, cradling a fire type Pokémon that resembled a mouse in her arms, telling him that the Professor sent her on an errand and more importantly, an adventure, and that she would have to leave immediately. He nodded bracingly as he cheered her on, telling her to aim for the best. Pushing his selfish requests to the back of his mind, he gave her the same smile as she informed him that she'd be aiming to become the new Pokémon champion and defeat the famous champion, Red.

He never got to tell her his feelings that day as he watched her left, his faithful companion, the Marill, standing at his side. They stood at the edge of town, bidding her a farewell because Marill was not trained for combat, and thus, could not enter the tall grass just of yet.

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><p><em>He was 18; too young to stop to think back on his regrets, too young to stop thinking about his first love and too young to stop hoping for a second chance.<em>

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><p>Hibiki took to travelling the Johto region a few months after Kotone left, secretly hoping that he could catch up on her ceaseless progress through the sixteen gyms and the many challenges that were laid before her in hopes that he could see her again; not from a live Pokéathlon broadcast, not from the latest news update of up-and-rising trainers of Johto, not from an advertisement for the Goldenrod Department Store—but in flesh.<p>

After two years of wandering around, he returned back to New Bark Town, for despite not finding Kotone, there were traces of her presence everywhere. The pain was too unbearable, even for someone of such a cheerful disposition such as himself. She was on posters, radio broadcasts, t-shirts and just about everything else you can imagine. Avoiding every single image of her as he rode a cherry-red bicycle through the streets of Violet City, his grip tightened on the handle as his mind wandered. Her hazel brown eyes and bright, childish smile that he was used to seemed to have changed somehow on the new merchandise that he saw everywhere, and he wondered if she looked any different from the last time he saw her. As a million thoughts ran through his mind, a resounding crash and jolt shook him from his reverie.

Hibiki was flung from his bike, and though he did not suffer from any terrible injuries, his knee was scrapped a little badly. He looked around for the source of the accident, and saw that he had crashed into another bicycle like his; except that it was yellow. A familiar silhouette sat a little further from the bicycles. Hibiki shook his head to clear the dizziness and focused on the person's back. Long, brown, silky hair was split into two low ponytails, and large, white hat adorned with a bright red ribbon was hanging lopsided on the person's head.

"Am I dreaming? Please don't tell me I'm seeing things; I didn't even knock my head!" Hibiki thought aloud, his hand brushing his fringe out of his eyes.

"…Hibiki?"

The girl stood up slowly, walking to him as she rubbed her elbow. She was wearing a long, red jacket that extended below her knees. Hibiki saw a flash of blue underneath the coat, and he looked up quickly. He was not dreaming—it really was Kotone. She looked different, though. Her hair was longer and somehow darker in colour—or richer, he cannot seem to make his mind up. She seems to have filled out her curves nicely too, and any hints of her past, skinny figure were long gone. Her face was the only part of her that was still haunted by the ghost of her younger self.

"…Kotone..?" Hibiki enunciated slowly, as though he was afraid that the scene was a dream, and it would disappear if he moved or spoke too quickly.

"Hibiki," Kotone cried, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks and an overjoyed smile as she threw her arms around Hibiki. "It IS you! I'm so glad I bumped into you! So, so glad…" She nuzzled into his shoulder, sobbing happily.

Hibiki sat in a daze, his arms lying by his side, unmoving. "How did you…how did you find me?"

Kotone held him at arm's length, her cheeks flushed. "I flew all the way here from Mount Silver, after defeating Red. I mean, I stopped off at the Victory Road first, of course! Lugia couldn't flew that long a stretch…no, I mean, I flew to Violet City from Victory Road, then I decided I was going to ride back home, and so I mounted my bicycle, and when I got there, you were not in town. B-But I visited my mother first, of course! And I visited your parents too, and they told me that…"

As Hibiki lay propped on his elbows in the soft grass with Kotone sitting atop him, recounting her long journey and rambling on about anything and everything, her words tumbling out one after another, his myriad of emotions swelled to a point that his breath got caught in his throat. All the short and awkward calls they would give each other, the moments where he would watch her break her own records when the Pokéathlon was aired, the desolation he dealt with when he arrived in a town the very next day after she left…all of those moments that were once so bitter tasting made his heart ache no longer, for he had another chance with her again.

"I beat the champion, the Elite Four, everyone, just like you told me to…I did it because you believed in me, but as time passed, everything seemed to just diminish, and I couldn't tell you that even though things became like that…" Kotone frowned through her tears, her voice betraying her front.

"Kotone…I…" Hibiki started, as he looked up into her reddened and tear-streaked face.

"And when you called, you would always talk about that stupid Marill of yours, and you never told me how you were doing, or asked if I was doing well…" Kotone clenched her fists, tears falling down ceaselessly. She wiped them away furiously and averted her eyes, catching her breath from her outburst. "I missed you so much, but I couldn't tell you no matter how I tried to…you always sound so unsure, and I'm certain I do too, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell you how I feel, no matter what…I—"

Hibiki sat up and crashed his lips into hers a little clumsily, holding her tightly as though she might just fade away at any given time. Kotone responded in kind, placing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, her tears still flowing. They sat there in the soft grass just outside New Bark Town for what seemed like eternity, locked in an embrace, their kiss; clumsy yet passionate, their hats slightly out of place and their bicycles long forgotten. It was only when a cold draft blew past them, rustling the trees and making the leaves strewn on the ground dance lethargically when they finally parted, heads touching and staring into each other's eyes, 5 years of unspoken feelings transmitting to each other in an instant.

"I was always trying to catch up to you these past two years, trying to see you to tell you how I felt. I lost the chance to do so when you first left me and New Bark Town, but I decided I wasn't going to have any of it anymore," Hibiki whispered, smiling sweetly. He kissed her forehead gently. "If I had known that it took us this long to finally admit everything, I should have done so when I had the chance."

Kotone smiled through her tears, blushing like a happy bride. They got up, brushing themselves off and started walking back home, hands interlocked and pushing their bicycles as they chatted animatedly, just like when they were children. The setting sun cast a golden glow around the duo, their shadows stretching behind them as they stepped out of the unkempt grass.

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><p>So, what do you think? If you are satisfied, please leave a review, telling me what you liked about this one! If you didn't, leave a review telling me what you didn't like about it. Thanks for reading! \o


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